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Press Release

Dubuque Gas Station Altercation Leads To Federal Prison Sentence

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa

A man who threatened a Dubuque woman with a gun after she refused to assist him in committing food stamp fraud at a Dubuque gas station was sentenced today to just under 5 years in federal prison.

Billy Evans, 23, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, received the prison term after a April 15, 2014 guilty plea to possession of a firearm and ammunition as a felon.

According to court records and information disclosed at the sentencing hearing, Evans arrived in Dubuque from Wisconsin on January 16, 2014.  Upon his arrival in Dubuque, Evans walked to a gas station and attempted to persuade a woman at the gas station to use Evans’s food stamp card to purchase her items, and to give Evans her cash.  When the woman refused, Evans yelled at the woman while lifting the side of his jacket to show her that he was carrying a handgun in his waistband.  The altercation was captured by the store’s surveillance camera.

A second confrontation occurred after the woman left the gas station, prompting the woman to call 911. Police arrived and approached Evans as he walked away from the gas station. Upon seeing the officers, Evans fled on foot. The foot pursuit went several blocks, through backyards.  While he was running from the police, Evans discarded a loaded .25 caliber pistol, which officers found following the chase.  Evans was a felon at the time, having been convicted in Wisconsin of Operating a Vehicle without Consent and Attempted Armed Robbery.

Evans was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.  Evans was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment.  A special assessment of $100 was imposed.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Evans is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Lightfoot and investigated by the Dubuque Police Department. 

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/ login.pl.  The case file number is 14-CR-1007.

Updated February 19, 2015